Trump has spent the last two months wrecking the parts of America he dislikes. What exactly is motivating him?
The destruction can be divided into three parts:
- PERSONAL VENGEANCE: Trump is, of course, determined to punish any individual who, in his eyes, persecuted him over the last four years. The retribution has taken the form of firings, lost security measures, and the harassment of law firms. The remaining question here is whether the people involved in the January 6 Committee and the two state prosecutions will face some sort of federal criminal investigation. Thus far, we have seen no indication of that, but the day is young.
- DOMINATING THE DEEP STATE: Instead of decapitating the “deep state,” restocking it, and using it for his own purposes, Trump has used DOGE to hobble and terrify it. Domination has also been the motivation for Trump’s behavior relative to Europe, Canada, and Mexico. DOGE is mostly done, however, so this kind of behavior will probably fade away after a few more months, at least domestically.
- THE REACTIONARY PROJECT: Here, the scope of the task is almost limitless, and has just begun. The most prominent adversaries have been the elite universities and immigrants. More will follow; the key players here are the blue states, particularly New York and California.
Looking at the big picture, the real questions for the administration are whether its tariffs will actually help red America prosper and whether the efforts described in #3 above will turn America into an illiberal or even fascist state. Those are the great known unknowns.